Israel Corp posts loss as most units have weak Q4
JERUSALEM, March 31 (Reuters) - Israel Corp (ILCO.TA), Israel's largest holding company, said on Tuesday it moved to a quarterly net loss on the heels of poor results from its oil refinery and shipping units.
Israel Corp posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $312 million, compared with a profit of $1 million a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, it recorded a loss of $20 million.
Israel Corp is the parent of Israel Chemicals (ICL) (ICL.TA), the second-largest company on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange by market capitalisation; shipping firm Zim; chipmaker Tower Semiconductor (TSEM.TA) (TSEM.O) and Oil Refineries (ORL.TA).
It benefited from a slight increase in profit at ICL [ID:nLU724041] but Zim and Oil Refineries [ID:nLU512920] posted steep losses. Tower reported a loss but it was narrower than a year earlier [ID:nLJ803171].
The company was also hurt by a rise in financing expenses to $204 million from $159 million in the last three months of 2007.
Israel Corp is also a key investor in an electric car venture called Better Place, which is backed by the Renault-Nissan alliance.
Idan Ofer, Israel Corp's chief executive, was forgoing 50 percent of his annual bonus while senior management were giving up 10 percent, the company said.
(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Rupert Winchester)
